Tag Archives: Cartoonist Questions

Since I do this for a living, I can’t sit around waiting for the Inspiration Fairy to fly in my window. I must think up several new cartoon ideas every day. I find it helps to have a reliable routine. If my routine worked for me yesterday, I can assume it will work for me again today. I start by refilling my coffee cup, then I grab a yellow legal pad and pencil, and some sort of idea-stimulator like a magazine, an old cartoon book, or an article on the web. Most days I start writing ideas around 10:30 AM and finish before lunch.

An ad in a business magazine about a company’s environmental policies might start me thinking in that direction about going green, whether the company is sincere or just chasing a politically correct trend, where to find money for this sort of thing in a tight economy, other things that are green (frogs, money, eyes, cupcakes, boogers, envy, etc). After a few minutes of brain storming, I’ll start jotting down ideas and after an hour or two I usually have 10-15 new cartoon ideas. After lunch I’ll look at the ideas again, draw up a few and put the others aside to maybe draw some other time if I think they’re good enough.

The idea always comes before the drawing. (Without an idea I wouldn’t know what to draw.) While I draw, I often re-write and edit my cartoon captions, trying to make them better in some way, shorter, easier to understand, funnier wording.

You might not realize it to look at me, but I exercise almost every day because it stimulates the creative process. In my experience, physical energy and creative energy are inseparable. When I’m feeling energetic, I write better. When I’m tired, my writing suffers. If I’m feeling sluggish on some days, a 15-20 minute walk around the block will usually help. I imagine this is true for any type of creative idea work, whether it’s a project at work or school, a sermon, a magazine article, whatever.

I’ll answer some other questions in future editions of the blog. If you have any questions or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you!

Glasbergen Cartoon Service is a cartoon bank of more than 2500 cartoons, cartoon stock for any occasion, a cartoon resource for any type of print or electronic media. Specializing in business cartoons, health and fitness cartoons, medical cartoons, education cartoons, family cartoons, love and marriage cartoons, lawyer cartoons, real estate cartoons, holiday cartoons and animal cartoons. Custom cartoons are available with cartoonist for hire service. Glasbergen Cartoon Service is the exclusive online distributor of cartoons by Randy Glasbergen, one of America’s most widely and frequently published freelance cartoonists.